Nova Scotia court shelves deadlines for conviction appeals

By Terry Davidson

Law360 Canada (May 6, 2020, 4:05 PM EDT) -- Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court announced that it has suspended filing deadlines for summary conviction appeals.

Suspensions are retroactive to March 19, according to a May 5 news release.

“Due to the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has directed that, unless a judge indicates otherwise, filing deadlines for summary conviction appeals set out in Civil Procedure Rule 63.05 (how and when an appeal is started) are suspended,” it states.

It goes on to detail that the directive “does not affect filing deadlines established by legislation in relation to summary conviction appeals.”

“The suspension of these filing deadlines is a temporary measure that will remain in effect until such time that the Supreme Court stops operating under an essential services model. When the Court resumes normal operations, counsel and the public will be advised via a notice on the Courts’ COVID-19 updates page.”

Like their counterparts across the country, Nova Scotia’s courts have made sweeping cuts and changes to their operations in the name of social distancing during the ongoing pandemic.

Also on May 5, the provincial court announced it would be launching a virtual peace bond process. And in mid-April, in a bid to clear its docket of non-urgent criminal matters to prevent future backlog, it began allowing pretrial resolution conferences to be held by telephone.